Ohio oil and gas incidents on the rise, new data shows

By Nadia Ramlagan

As Ohio residents continue to push for stronger oversight of oil and gas waste facilities, a new analysis showed more than 2,500 oil and gas blowouts, explosions, toxic leaks and other incidents between 2015 and 2025.

The report, released by FracTracker Alliance and Buckeye Environmental Network, combed through 10 years of Ohio Department of Natural Resources records.

Gwen Klenke, Midwest program coordinator for the FracTracker Alliance, said state regulators have not stayed on top of tracking and following up on incidents.

"Inspectors who look at these oil and gas incidents or look at the oil and gas wells are just really overburdened. It would take them roughly two years to check on every well," Klenke explained.

More than 1,200 incidents involve the release of toxic substances, which could pose public health risks, given oil and gas-related fluids, in particular wastewater, may contain toxic PFAS and high levels of radioactivity.

Klenke pointed out in January more than a dozen state oil and gas rules will be up for review. Environmental groups are calling on legislators and state regulators to tighten up regulations, given the history of gaps in public reporting and oversight.

"Because if this agency can't even handle the tracking of these incidents, well then, there needs to be safer regulations across the board," Klenke contended.

The analysis found holes in the state's recordkeeping. Klenke noted location information was frequently missing or inaccurate, incident classifications often failed to reflect the full nature of an event and important details were often buried.